Koala Boutique
Review

Koala Boutique (2021) is a strategy game about running a shop on the brink of bankruptcy. Unusually, it's a game designed for two players to play distinct roles. You don't have to play at the same time, but work together to progress as a team. The Adventurer plays on a PC, exploring the dungeon collecting items. The Trader plays on a Smartphone and manages the loot (stock) the Adventurer brings to the shop.

Play involves working as a team to maximize your profit, unlock new powers and abilities. Working as an effective partnership you can unlock the rogue and warrior classes. It combines two games really, a dungeon crawler and a resource management simulation.

It's ideal to play in the family. If parents choose to take on the less time-intensive Trader role that can check in once a day and get things ready for when their child next plays. When the child plays they then discover the items that the parent has earned for them.

Both players are experiencing a fully fledged game experience, tailored for having a lot (or not much) time. It's not only a nice way to enter the world of a child's game, but also creates a context for meal-time conversations where parents and children share the same language.

The game is part of a scientific study that is looking at asynchronous games. You can apply to joint the project application.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Koala Boutique 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 13 months ago.